Marketing helps fuel a company’s growth. It goes hand-in-hand with sales and business development, and with a well-implemented plan in place, you can expect your marketing efforts to bring in a steady stream of leads to nurture into (much-needed) new business.
Heck, at some point, when you were just starting out, you were likely doing your fledgling company’s marketing all by yourself.
Now that you’ve leveled up a bit and grown to the point where you’re actually doing quite well for yourself, you are probably faced with the decision on how to ramp up your marketing efforts.
Should you hire a digital marketing agency to help you navigate through the online marketplace? Perhaps you’re thinking of building your own marketing team or maybe even hiring an independent contractor or consultant to help you figure things out.
Here are nine reasons why you should work with an agency for your digital marketing needs. A digital marketing agency brings to the table:
- A high level of expertise
- A wealth of experience
- A total approach to marketing
- Measurable results
- A drive to deliver
- Seamless service
- Tools of the trade
- A more cost-effective solution
- A way to free you up (so you can do more)
Let’s dive right into each one of these items.
1. Digital Marketing Agencies Have The Expertise
Probably the most important thing marketing agencies bring to the table is their in-depth knowledge and level of expertise.
Well-versed in the latest best practices and current industry developments, top-notch agencies can reach deep into their bag of marketing tricks, focusing on delivering results for you and your business.
As far as marketing goes, these people know what they’re doing. We’re not just talking about the technical aspect of marketing, but the ability to properly customize marketing plans and campaigns for your brand, as well as effectively implementing those plans to ultimately help you achieve your overall goals and objectives.
2. Marketing Agencies Have a Wealth of Experience
Many digital agencies have had years of experience designing and implementing all sorts of marketing strategies. This means they’re able to draw from an even deeper pool of knowledge when it comes to choosing the right mix of marketing techniques for you.
But possibly the most practical advantage you get from working with a digital marketing agency is that, in all likelihood, they have worked with other similar businesses or brands like yours (and probably still continue to do so). This level of familiarity minimizes guesswork, as they now navigate through the same marketing challenges your company is facing right now, having seen recent success in deploying similar strategies for other small businesses or other clients.
Experience and expertise come together as a digital marketing agency has a better read on the pulse of the market, offering more current, real-world insight on:
- Which ideas for effective marketing and promotion initiatives might work best for you
- What are the more noticeable trends on consumer behavior, media usage, or other key insights on lifestyle as far as your target audience goes
- Recent industry reports and analyses of the behavior of your intended market, especially in the online and mobile space.
What this means for you is this: more battle-tested digital marketing teams can not just tell you which strategies and tactics will work for your particular requirements, but also why these approaches are a lot more effective or more feasible than other available options.
3. Digital Agencies Employ a Total Approach to Marketing
With your marketing goals in mind, an effective digital agency will actively work towards your satisfaction, employing a more holistic approach when it comes to achieving results.
Marketing is only part of a broader skillset that might also include graphic design, branding, media strategy, content development, inbound sales, web development/design, software deployment, lead nurturing, online advertising, and so much more.
Simply put, whatever methods or tactics are necessary to achieve, say, a higher follower count, or more online inquiries, or downloads of a brochure you prepared, your digital marketing agency is likely prepared to do what it takes to get things done.
Recognizing that so many other disciplines synergize well with marketing allows for a more total approach when it comes to working towards your business goals. It’s this “can-do” attitude, perseverance, and creativity that allow you and your business to make steady and sustainable gains.
4. Your Agency Gives You Measurable Results
When working with you, your marketing agency will make sure that your business objectives are SMART. That is, they are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely.
It is the “measurable” aspect of your marketing goals that you’ll want to keep track of, as this lets you know how much progress you’re making and it also allows you to make business projections or forecasts, or even adjust and fine-tune your marketing strategy as needed.
Measurability allows for better assessing the effectiveness of your company’s various digital marketing campaigns, as well as online advertising, and your on-ground efforts as well.
For this purpose, your digital marketing agency will provide you with regular reports and analytics so you can have that tangible measure of results on a regular basis.
5. A Digital Marketing Agency Has The Drive to Deliver
Digital marketing agencies are driven by results. Results, after all, are what ultimately fuels client and customer satisfaction.
For this reason, a digital agency will always want to keep your forward momentum going so steady, consistent progress goes towards achieving your business goals.
Even smaller, upstart digital marketing agencies can be expected to show this level of eagerness and drive, as they are itching to show you they can deliver just as well as the more established players in their space.
Mechanisms will be in place to always keep you in the loop, as well as to organize your overall marketing efforts, and to re-calibrate with you from time to time.
And for as long as you’re both on the same page with regards to what needs to be done, your digital marketing agency will always keep that end goal in mind. So even if you need to make adjustments on the fly, such as when a hot, new opportunity presents itself, or if you somehow find yourself in the middle of a crisis, or if you need to get a landing page up right away, your agency can respond quickly and effectively depending on even your most immediate requirements.
6. A Marketing Agency Provides Seamless Service
Because they have a pool of marketing professionals and experts, as well as project managers and account managers, you can expect your digital marketing agency to be fairly adept at managing their capacities.
In the event that you need extra help on a particular campaign or project, for example, a digital agency can rope in a few more hands to get things done. Or bring in additional experts for advice and recommendations. Or funnel a few more warm bodies to speed things up with your campaigns as needed.
Even when some people are on leave or if your account manager is on vacation, agencies can quickly shift some manpower around so all your essential activities don’t skip a beat.
Similarly, if for some reason you’re not happy with the performance or work style of the people assigned to you, it can be a simple matter of requesting someone new. This way, you eliminate the need of having to find suitable replacements as you might encounter if you had a similar situation with your own in-house marketing team.
Working with a digital marketing agency spares you the hassle of hiring and firing, retraining, and filling out loads of accompanying paperwork all for the purpose of getting a viable replacement for your team.
7. Agencies Are Equipped With Tools of the Trade
There are tons of marketing tools out in the market right now, with new ones coming out each month. While you might be tempted to sign up for the hottest new offer so you can do your own marketing, you have to ask yourself: which of these marketing tools, softwares, or services do I really need for my business, and are they any good at all?
Fortunately for you, your digital marketing agency has already figured that out. They likely have access to:
- higher-tier enterprise marketing tools that an in-house team would normally consider out of budget,
- a wealth of effective, tried-and-tested tools and services that have consistently delivered results
- knowledge of setting up a suitable online collaborative environment to help facilitate project management, strategy development, and decision-making
In fact, you should talk to your digital marketing agency about which marketing tools would be right for you given your level of involvement in the entire marketing and promotions process, or your aptitude towards newfangled tools and toys. Many agencies are happy to share what they know and advise you accordingly.
8. Working with a Digital Agency Cuts Down on Costs
Sure, you can build your own team from scratch. But consider the cost of hiring additional personnel to cover all your company’s marketing requirements. The more experienced, more highly-specialized, and more skilled prospects are certainly going to cost more. The median annual salary for a Marketing Specialist is $63,120. That breaks out to $5,260 in salary alone. Let’s not forget the cost of employee benefits, workmans comp insurance, taxes, additional overhead, the time and resources necessary for adequate onboarding and training, and how you need to scramble for a replacement should a team member decide to leave or move on.
With a budget of $5,000+ a month, with an agency, you could easily run a digital marketing campaign that includes an effective advertising and SEO program, with ad budget, marketing software and a team of experts.
Example: Your Marketing Team Includes
Strategist / IMC (Inbound Marketing Consultant)
Copywriter
Graphic Designer
Web Developer
Demand Generation Expert (SEO)
PPC/ Advertising Expert
Having a digital marketing agency along for the ride allows you to keep a lean and modest in-house marketing team without having to unnecessarily ramp up or scale, especially when you’re still growing your company.
Your agency can easily fill in the gaps of your existing marketing efforts, or work on a specific component of your overall strategy, or handle everything for you if you so wish.
With a ready pool of qualified marketing experts and specialists already on board, you’re free to pick and choose which services you need at any given time without the hassle of having to build and maintain a large in-house marketing team.
9. Working With a Digital Marketing Agency Frees You Up
Simply put, outsourcing your digital marketing requirements allows you to focus on running your business. You can leave the dirty work of content creation, social media scheduling, marketing automation, SEO, and sometimes even website management to them while you spend more time doing what you do best.
However way you choose to allocate your freed-up block of time is up to you– you could devote more of your waking hours towards operations, sales optimization, product development, or account management. If time is money, you could make a killing just by having a digital agency in your corner.
A Final Word on Hiring a Digital Marketing Agency
When you feel like you need to ramp up your company’s own digital marketing efforts, it’s really a question of whether you should be opting to further build your own in-house team, going for an independent contractor or consultant, or working with a digital marketing agency.
While each option does have its own pros and cons, if you do decide on working with a digital marketing agency, make sure you understand everything about your agreed service agreement.
That means reviewing your contract with them, and knowing exactly what you can (and can’t) do given the scope of their involvement as far as your company’s marketing requirements are concerned.
Make sure you have open lines of communication and that you have a way to (depending on how hands-on you want to be) monitor progress, give feedback, solicit recommendations, or make adjustments to your overall marketing strategy.
The key to your success when working with a digital agency is that you must be on the same page, and agree on (and at the very least):
- Clear expectations on what needs to be delivered
- Which services come with your service package and what sort of additional services you have access to should you need them
- A system on how to communicate and collaborate regularly, especially when decisions need to be made
- What the big picture is for your brand, and what strategies will be implemented to meet your business objectives.
Digital marketing agencies know and value the importance of doing a good job for you, and you’ll likely see this in how your account manager interacts with you to give you updates on your progress and how they might go above and beyond what is expected.
